Communicating
by Fhantasie
Summary: Naru has a troubled past that keeps coming back in flashes as she runs from Konoha and all the bad memories she's had there. At the young age of 8, she's already met them all- Tsunade, Jiraya, Sarutobi, you name it.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Oh, um… Naruto isn't mine. Obviously. :P

* * *

"I'm sorry…"

Namikaze Minato let his eyes drift from his path in the forest onto the child's face. _My beautiful daughter_, he thought proudly. _She's going to be a real knockout one day._ His inner ramblings were cut off as the aftershock of a red tail slicing through the air made its way down to the forest. _Crap, Kushina!_ His only thoughts were of his recovering wife as he prepared to perform **Hiraishin no Jutsu**, his own specialty.

His fears were realized with a groan as he watched the house that his wife had been in collapse in on itself. _No…

* * *

_

Minato's last tears had been wiped off his face. He stood on top of Gamabunta, holding his infant daughter in his arms.

"Naru-chan, I'm sorry." _I_ _hope you don't get the bloodline._

Minato gently cradled Naru as he performed the last handseals for the **Shiki Fuujin**. His last breath was to tell his tiny daughter he loved her as she watched him die with her large, blue uncomprehending eyes.

_**Eight years later.**_

"You really mean it, old man?! I'm allowed to go to the Academy?"

The Sandaime nodded and smiled gently in Naru's direction. "Yes, Naru-chan, you are."

"Awesome! So will you like teach me jutsus and like taijutsu and like weapons and like-"

"Naru-chan, that would be giving an unfair advantage to you over your classmates." In truth, probably more than half of the children in the class would have already had extensive training in family techniques. But Naru didn't know that, just as she didn't know that the Sandaime was the Hokage. Heck, she probably didn't know what the Hokage was, either. She thought he was an old, retired shinobi with nothing better to do than talk to little children such as her.

What she did know, though, was that he was sometimes there next to her small apartment, and sometimes not. That he was shrouded in mystery and illusions and she had never seen his face.

"Aw… but I saw people that could be my friends already practicing stuff!"

Ah, so she had noticed. "Ah, well, they were trained by their families."

Naru's big blue eyes looked up at him and he repressed a memory of a young Minato making the same look. "You mean, I'm not your family…?"

"Don't use that look on me! I know all your tricks!" So what if she always remembered his "birthday" and always gave him his favorite snacks from that one takoyaki stand all the way on the other side of town and she… that was beside the point. He was the Hokage, and if he trained her, the Council would revolt.

_Oh, my goodness_, he thought. _Revolt? What have I been smoking?_

"Oh please? Please please please please please pretty please with a cherry and a lot of kunai on top?"

But… what if it wasn't the Hokage training her? What if it was some… random foreigner?

The beginnings of a smile was forming on his face as Naru kneeled just a few feet away from him, still looking at him with those big, pouty eyes of hers.

"Fine, but only if you keep it a secret." It was all he could do to keep from winking.

* * *

A Sandaime clone paced around in his office glaring at the stack of paperwork that his creator had assigned to him.

A few miles away, the real Sandaime was smiling a triumphant smile under his henge as an unnoticeable foreigner. _Now, why didn't I think of this a couple years back? Could have saved me a few wrinkles…_

Naru was practically bouncing up and down with anticipation of the training to come.

"See, put your hands in this seal. Now, try feeling deep inside for 'chakra'. Ah, speaking of seals… Naru-chan, would you mind studying on your own after we're done training?"

"Sure, old man! Hey, I think I feel it! It's like … bubbly-ish!"

Sandaime frowned. _Bubbly-ish?_

"It feels warm, too! I'm going to try poking it."

**BOOM.**

**BOOM.**

**BOOM.**

"Aw, shucks. Just my luck." This was going to be a looooooong day.

* * *

"Little bitch! Go back to Hell where you came from!"

Naru curled up in a tight little ball as she tried to ignore the villager's cries.

"Demon!"

She curled a little tighter. She felt pebbles pelting her back.

"My daughter! You killed her!"

Most of all, she hated the blame.

"You don't belong here!"

She hated the guilt.

"You're not human, you_… thing_!"

She hated how she felt it.

"My wife! She's gone now, thanks to you!"

She hated how she could sympathize.

"DEMON!"

She hated this stupid village.

"You filth."

She wanted to let go.

"Naru-chan." A gentle voice. From where?

"Naru-chan, it's okay now." It was familiar. It was warm. Old man?

"O-old man?"

"Yes. It's okay, the villagers are gone now."

She slowly uncurled, cautiously raising her head—her eyesight was blurry with disuse and tears._ I'm here, alive, because of him. Because of the old man. _

Her eyes filled with tears that had waited a long time to be shed. She sobbed into his old, mold-smelling coat for hours.

Why did they hate her?


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine. O:

A/N: &Thanks to the reviewers & the pointer(:. I made an effort to clarify with lines in this chappie. (x

_**Four years after that.**_

**Bleep. Bleep. Bleep. Bleep. Blee-**

**Wham!**

Naru groaned as she roused herself from her sleep. "Aw, shieeeeez…"

She was on an extended vacation from her team(of course she decided that herself; no one would let her if they knew) to try to go train by herself. In a forest. Deep deep inside, she decided. That way no one could find her and pounce on her for not being at the missions. _Stupid D-ranks_.

She didn't want to help the villagers-even though she had decided a while back that those stupid villagers knew nothing and could not do anything to harm her, it still hurt.

It hurt when they hurled insults at her. It hurt when they hurled rocks at her. It hurt when she crushed her rage and faked a smile. It hurt when she remembered the old man.

He had been Naru's mentor, her tutor, her father, and everything in between while she was learning to be a ninja. He was everything she wanted to be: powerful, wise, funny, nice, and protective. Then he had died protecting her from a different ninja with a mask that tried to take her life while she was training with the old man.

But… strangely, she couldn't recall even a little bit of what had happened after the old man died. She had sunk into a red haze of pain as the ninja tormented her, and then … nothing. She regained consciousness to find that the ninja had been ripped to shreds and the old man had disappeared.

She cried. And cried. And sobbed. And screamed.

But nothing could bring him back; so she lived for him-that was what she liked to tell herself.

That was why she smiled every time an insult hit her like a ton of bricks, and why when a ton of bricks actually hit her, she still smiled like it was nothing and went on her merry way.

Every day, it was the same routine: survive, train, learn, ignore the villagers, throw a smile, reach the front door, _then_ break down. The old man's motto floated back to her as a wave of memories crashed before she decided to go back to sleep.

"_Never ever let anything get you down, Naru-chan. They're not worth it."_

* * *

The Sandaime struggled with his last grasp on sanity whilst dealing with his paperwork. His eyes skittered past the giant hole in his wall as he tried to avoid the oncoming destruction. He glanced desperately at the door and the bookcase hiding dozens of little orange books.

"Sarutobi-sensei! You just can't let this go on!"

He winced as he felt his eardrums pop from the proximity and the volume of this particularly feminine voice.

"She's barely learning anything! Those_… imbeciles_… are plenty happy to go on with their lives while she can_ rot_!" The desk creaked below her massive display of strength and then collapsed.

_My poor, poor desk_, he sobbed (in his head, of course. It just wouldn't do for the Hokage to start sobbing for no apparent reason).

"Tsunade, you can't really do anything to help her. The Council will deny anything you present to them and just make her more miserable." _Believe me_, he said internally. _I tried_.

"But, Sarutobi-sensei! There's got to be something we can do."

"We-You can only help her in the shadows. I can't because I've already 'died', and she doesn't know the Hokage me."

"Hokage you? What are you talking about?"

"Ah, you weren't here yet." The Sandaime repressed a smile behind his hat that appeared onto his head from nowhere.

"Tell me!"

"Oh, alright. Well…"

* * *

_The Hokage left his office with one sole purpose in mind: to find Naru, the 'demon container'. He owed her: she had lived most of her infant years alone and without guidance. Her appointed nanny's had all tried to harm her, in one way or another._

_One had attempted to slit her throat while Naru was sleeping. Another had slipped poison into her food. And yet another had let her wander off-into a river-unsupervised._

_Sarutobi had had enough. So he slipped into an undetectable henge, developed by the Fourth for him especially, and left on the trip towards her apartment._

_And there he waited; hours upon hours until she walked out with a tear-streaked red face._

_"Naru."_

_She jumped. Naru was startled; he could tell. One did not qualify to be a ninja if they couldn't identify that a young, four-year-old girl was startled. Especially that four-year-old girl._

_He stood up and Naru started backing away, slowly, cautiously._

_"Naru?"_

_"U-um. Please d-don't hurt me." Her tiny voice squeaked out as she backed up against the building's wall._

_His eyes narrowed. What had they done to her?_

_"Naru, have you ever seen a ninja?"_

_Her voice got even smaller, if that was possible. "Y-yes."_

_"When?"_

_"Just a little while a-ago."_

_Sarutobi searched her head to foot. His eyes widened as he took in the miniscule blood stains on her crumpled white t-shirt. It was obvious that she had tried to wash them off and failed._

_"Did they try to hurt you?"_

_She seemed to shrink even more into the darkness as she retreated further back. She began to shake her head back and forth violently; apparently that was a no._

_"Naru-chan…" Her shaking violently jerked to a stop as she registered the suffix to her name._

_"I'm not going to hurt you; tell me who attacked you." His voice was gentle._

_She cautiously crept forward until he could see the top half of her body again._

_"P-promise?"_

_There was a mix of apprehension and wariness in her eyes as she waited for him to answer. He sighed inwardly; there should not have been such an expression on a child of her age's face._

_He nodded slowly, indicating with his hand to come and pinky promise him._

_"What did they look like, Naru-chan?"_

_"W-well… they had these funny marks in their eyes… and I only know cause they took off their masks."_

_Masks? Oh dear, this made it much more complicated._

_"Naru-chan, were they animal masks?"_

_"Yuh-huh! I-it looked really cool, till they s-started… hitting me."_

_"Did their eyes turn red with swirly things in them?"_

_"Uhhh… yeah."_

_An ANBU Uchiha. Or Uchihas, if what she said was to be believed. He promised himself to hunt them down personally later._

_"H-how do you know me?"_

_Her blue eyes expressed her emotions; she was still wary of him, although she believed he wouldn't hurt her anymore._

_"I don't-I'm from out of town, Naru-chan. I just heard your name as I was passing through everywhere, and someone pointed you out for me." Of course, that person –civilian- had thought he was aiming to hurt her._

_She slid her hand out of his outstretched one._

_"T-that's why you don't know!", she cried, eyes saddening again._

_"Know what, Naru-chan?"_

_Her voice shrunk again. "That I'm a d-demon."_

_"Who told you that, Naru-chan?" Although the question came out gentle, his voice was as sharp as a dozen ice shards that could pierce the skin._

_"Everyone."_

_His eyes narrowed._

_"It's okay, Naru-chan, I'll protect you."_

* * *

"Aw, that's sweet, Sensei. But why can't you help her anymore?"

"I 'died' protecting her. She didn't believe me to be the strongest person on earth, just a father figure and someone to look up to. So I 'died' protecting her from an ANBU Uchiha. Who was attacking for real, for your information."

"For real?" Tsunade ground her teeth. "Those idiots! Wouldn't that have traumatized her?"

"I have faith in her, Tsunade. She'll make it through."

"I hope you're right, Sensei."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I apologize for the late update, I got a little… sidetracked by reading other fictions, and I'm a bit of a procrastinator myself. I tried to make it a TEENY TINY bit longer though DX Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: Not mine, yeah. Bye !

_

* * *

Training trip it is,_ she decided as she swept her way through the village.

Her long blonde hair(she had let it grow out over the years) in twin pigtails on the sides of her head streamed behind her as she jumped from roof to roof.

_Hope Kakashi-sensei doesn't notice me. Or Sasuke-teme or idiot Sakura._

She was hauling an oversized bag of supplies to last over a month; she knew that a month was the maximum she could stay out there, knowledge courtesy of Tsunade-sensei. She didn't want to go missing-nin!

She willed her legs to go faster, jump higher, and soon she was soaring through the air, feeling free.

She flipped once, twice, three times! It was exhilarating, to be herself with no one around.

She hid behind her mask continually, not that anyone noticed. Her idiocy, her apparent crush on(shudder cue here) Kiba, and her apparent lack of skills and tact.

Naru could be tactful when she wanted to be. She could be courteous. Graceful, even. She could even make fellow shinobi cower in fear. However, she chose to hide all that behind a mask.

Steering her mind away from that morose topic, she thought back into her childhood. The old man, that voice in the back of her head… that was it! She'd find out what that voice meant; talking to her and consoling her.

**I'm not just a voice, you brat. **

Naru stumbled and hit her head on a building_. Ow! Thanks a lot, you- wait, what? You're that voice!_

**No, really?**

_Awesome! So, are you like my guardian angel or something? Cause you seemed really nice back then and all, but…_

**Foolish child. I am Kyuubi no Kitsune, the worst nightmare of your village.**

_Um … wow?_

**You imbecile! Show some respect!**

_Uhh, sure.. But I have a question: how come you never spoke up till now?_

**Because when I spoke to you, you had no other company: no encouragement, nothing. I felt pity and bestowed what I thought to be kindness and a parental guidance. **

_Oh… But then you stopped talking to me!_

**You had that "old man", as you dubbed him, or otherwise known as the Hokage in disguise. **

_The Hokage? That wasn't the Hokage? _She thought with scorn.

**Are you sure, child? The Hokage is a great ninja capable of many things.**

_Wait, if you tried to destroy this village… well, you sound really nice to me. And you even called him a great ninja._

**Because I respect his power does not mean I do not detest this pathetic village.**

_Oh._

**Yes, oh. This village is weak; weak beyond anything I can comprehend. But it confuses me. How can such a weak village produce such strong shinobi? Like, say… your father?**

_My father? Who?_

**The Fourth. **

_You mean… the fourth Hokage?_

**Yes.**

_That's weird._

**I know.**

_Okay, but I have another question. How come I can talk to you even though you're dead?_

**If you're talking to me, how can I be dead?**

_I dunno…_

**I'm you, and you're me.**

_What?_

**Well actually, we could be.**

_Um, no thanks. I'm really too busy being confused at the moment._

There was no reply after that. She thought perhaps this Kyuubi Fox person was maybe a mind reader of some sort, to be able to talk into her head.

Her journey came to a stop as she reached the village gates. She used the (old man's? Hokage's?) personal jutsu, the undetectable henge to fool the guards into thinking she was a lost merchant's child looking for her parents.

They didn't suspect a thing and let her go through the gates_. Suckers. They're going to get hell from Tsunade-sensei when she catches them later._

She knew that because Tsunade-sensei said that she knew Naru's father. Of course. Tsunade-sensei was famous, so she_ must _have known her father! Naru vowed to herself that she would ask the "Kyuubi" about it once more when the voice spoke again.

"Hmm, place to live, place to live-" She stopped her whistling as she found the perfect spot: an empty cave. "Awesome!"

However, once she ventured inside, there were already living utensils inside. Like, a stove, a few clothes hanging around-wait, clothes? By the looks of the worn cloth, it was a man's. A shinobi, too, if the kunai she saw lying around were anything to judge by, plus the weird paper-ish sign thingies posted here and there.

She decided to wait for this strange inhabitant as she explored the cave, mostly because she was curious as to how he had survive this close to Konoha in such an obvious cave right next to the gates of Konoha. The other reason was that even if he tried to kill her, she didn't care. After all, what purpose did she have in live besides to… survive?

* * *

Naru sighed in disappointment as she watched the moon peek out from behind the fluffy white clouds in the pitch-black night. "Guess he isn't coming after all…" the (oblivious-to-the-demon-inside-her)Kyuubi container intoned.

"Who?" A voice startled her; she would have jumped, if it weren't for that stupid kunai under her chin ready to slit her throat. It nicked her, and a small trail of blood started dripping. The moment it started though, it healed itself.

"Uh… you!" Naru made a wild guess as she tried to turn around. She was surprised to find that she was able to turn around, and even more surprised at the look on the man's face as he took in her already-healed cut on her neck.

"You… Minato's daughter?"

"Wuh?" That summed up her thoughts completely.

"You shouldn't be here! Do you even know how many seals I placed around the area?"

"Oh, the paper sign-thingies? No wonder I couldn't read them!"

"You don't know a thing about seals?"

Naru shook her head noiselessly.

"Then how did you get in here?"

"I walked in," she deadpanned.

"I mean… You saw the cave?"

"Yup! And I wondered, 'cause it was just sitting there! And so I walked in."

* * *

"So… Your name is Jiraiya." Although intended as a question, the phrase came out sounding like a statement.

He nodded.

"And you know Tsunade-sensei."

He seemed surprised. "Tsunade-sensei? As in, she teaches you?"  
"Duh."

Jiraiya's brow furrowed as he thought back. "But she swore she'd never teach another student."

"O-kay-o. I don't really care, if that's what you're asking."

He sighed as he took her in.

"So your name is Naru."

It was her turn to nod.

He sighed again as he thought long and hard.

"Do you know of the Kyuubi no Kit-"

"-sune? Yeah."

"You do?"

"I just found out today! Like, I was on my way here, and then I heard this voice, and then-"

"A voice?!"

He grasped the sides of her head and looked into her eyes seriously.

"Did you respond to it?"

"Duh, isn't it rude to ignore someone?" _Especially because barely anyone talks to me. _

"…"

"…"

"How wonderful. Now, what would you feel about going on a small trip with me?"

* * *

_A year later_

She felt powerful. She was powerful. And she was in trouble.

With a whole bunch of ANBU after her, Naru was not the happiest person on earth.

But she was pretty darn close to it, having pulled off the cheer-worthy prank of making the ANBU look like fools in front of the entire village… by her hands. Or rather, her clone's hands. She had been busy running away before they caught wind of the real her.

Naru allowed a small smile to grace her face as she jumped from roof to roof toward her puny apartment.

_Stealth skills and revenge on the villagers, check. _

A distant scream echoed throughout the village as a well-known pervert was uncovered in the bushes near the women's onsen. Naru inwardly smirked.

_Trap-setting skills, ninjutsu, genjustu, check._

**We're nearly ready to go, little one.**

She flipped upside down over a roof and under a line of drying clothes as she ditched the ANBU _attempting_ to track her.

_Almost done, don't worry._

**So you're leaving this place, even your sensei?**

_Oh, you know she doesn't help me out of caring for me…_

**Although that may be true, she proved to be very useful.**

_So? That doesn't help anything! It's not like she helped when—_

**I know! There is no reason to get so riled up. The past is the past, and it is best to leave it there.**

_Hai._

She took a deep breath as she slid her carefully constructed mask of a cheerful personality over her face as she stepped out of the shadows of her apartment. All her things had been sealed into her scrolls, which were all stuffed into her pack—which of course was double-layered with a genjutsu that only she knew.

_Only because the old man is dead_, Naru thought bitterly.

**No, the Hokage.**

_Oh yeah._

Ignoring the past's truths for the moment, she slid a cheerful grin onto her face as she approached the gate guards, some random chuunin.

"Hey there! Just a friendly merchant passing through---"

"As if we'd believe that, demon!" The first guard spat at her face, although she ducked in time.

_Ew… _she scrunched up her nose in disgust. Inwardly, of course_._

"Fine then, just let me through!" She let a friendly scowl to overtake her face, grimacing inwardly at the ease of which she used her mask now.

Naru watched as the chuunin guards' faces lit up as an idea struck them. "You're leaving, eh, stupid demon?"

"Finally realized your mistakes?"

"Finally going to repent for what you did to our families?"

Each word they said attempted to worm their way into her chest and stab her heart residing there.

_It's okay… I'm used to it now_, she chanted silently, a mantra.

Slowly, ice overtook her heart as she just allowed a full-blown grin cross her face before squinting her eyes at them and saying, "Apparently!"

And she was kicked out without further ado.

_Well, that went easier than I thought, _she reflected.

"And don't come back again, you stupid demon!"

_Or maybe it was just the way they thought._

_**Stupid humans… they do not realize just what treasure they have lost. One day, this kit will be a feared child upon the earth.**_ Kyuubi hid it's thoughts from its container, nearly howling with laughter at the humans' stupidity.

* * *

_The only one I really feel sorry for is Jiraiya-sensei._

**True. I do think he really cared for you.**

_Appearances can be deceiving…_

**Do you think I am not aware of that, gaki? I've lived millennia longer than you ever will!**

_Just checking, geez. So where are we now?_

**If my memory serves correctly, we should be near the border of Fire country right now.**

_Hey, I have a question… If you really are the Kyuubi, why are you so … nice?_

**It just happens that it is not willingly that I attacked your pathetic little village. However, I refuse to share that particular story of mine.**The Kyuubi's voice had turned cold_. Oh shit_! Shethought to herself_, major bad sign! Back away while ticking bomb is still ticking!_

_Eheheh… _

Her conversation with her prisoner trailed off into silence as she concentrated on focusing chakra to her feet.

* * *

**Your team should be missing you about now.**

_Yeah, because of our daily D-ranks._ Naru's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Only silence answered her comment.

Used to this rather abrupt kind of treatment, she continued her journey into the depths of Fire country's forest. She closed her eyes and reveled in just being able to _feel_ everything around her. The trees, the leaves, and even the teensy little spiders scampering about in the treetops.

A stray thought wandered through her head as she wondered if it was ever this peaceful back in the village. When the answer came back to her in the negative, she shook her head ruefully and determinedly carried on.

* * *

Many lonely, silent, tiring nights later, Naru sat alone in the treetops over a huge bonfire that probably alerted everyone in the forest to her location, but she didn't care_. I can blend._

Memories crashed into her, wave after wave.

— "_Naru-neechan! Wait up—"_

_Silent patters of feet against the crunchy leaves of the forest—_

"—_because she was jealous—"No! Don't believe that, don—_

_A crash—_

_A shaky voice—"She… She wouldn't!" _

_A mournful howl of agony, tearing into the world for all to hear—_

_Finally, an all-encompassing silence. There was no one for her anymore. _

— "_Hmph. An assistant? How fitting. Although, you might even fail at that—"_

_No! Why can't you believe me—_

_A voice, finally, through the shunned silence—_

_**Don't let it get to you. Shrug it off.**_

_Her own raw, whimpering voice echoes through her mind—"Don't… Trust."_

**Stop it!**

The powerful voice of the Kyuubi echoed through her mind.

**Look around! **

Naru took a glance around, amazed at her own destruction. The fire had been completely doused by an apparent speed, judging from the settling dust that encompassed her former camp site. There were also kunai and claw marks on the nearby surrounding trees, showing what she had done in her fit of memories.

Her eyes filled with a strange emotion before she blanked her facial expression as she felt a chakra signature approach the destroyed clearing.

_Shit._


End file.
